Finding His Place
by Dark Ash
Summary: Timon has been grappling with some hard facts... Simba has a big problem... Puumba has a secret that he can't share... how can three guys find exactly what they're looking for? (slash, het, violence. Detailed explainations inside.)


Finding His Place  
  
By Dark Ash  
  
Rated: R. It is explained why R in the warnings section.  
  
Genre: Drama/Romance (something by Ashu that isn't angst! Amazing...)  
  
Warnings: Slash, possible implications of child-adult relations, brief harsh language, het, citrus/hinting, it will go *slightly* into R (for lewd humor that she does almost as a second nature, and a few times because Ashu's so mean to Simba) at some times, but most of the fic she's planning for is PG/PG-13. She is rating it R because A: kids get easier access in the G-PG-13 section; B: there *will* be (at least) one R-rated chapter (for violence); and C: the author is paranoid. Translation: Adult? At times, yes. Porn? No, not in the least. Not even erotica. The author believes that erotica for TLK is disturbing. Oh yeah, quasi-religious undertones, too. That's mostly because I think that Rafiki translates more as a deity than a real person.  
  
Other random notes: Humorph A/U. What that means is that Ashu-sama/-kun/- chan/-san/-something is turning animals into people for her own reasons (she find it easier to work with people than animals, and some things she just couldn't *do* with animals and keep her own sanity), and warp some of the situations. The timeline is screwed. It is mostly Timon and Simba- centric, because they are her favorite characters. If facts between the original LK and 1 ½ clash, she will take preference to the original.  
  
She knows the Lion King was originally loosely based off of Hamlet (royal families, king murdered by brother, son attempts to kill uncle who is now king, sound similar?), but the second and half movies screwed that (but, technically, the half movie could be considered the equivalent of "Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" and the second could be "Romeo and Juliet"...). However, she's just going to ignore that, and she apologizes for it.  
  
Final thing: She going to try as hard as humanly possible to not make this huge Timon or Simba angst. However, she already knows two chapters that will be strictly designated for angst, but she hopes to make this an equal mixture of subject matter.  
  
Disclaimer: Dark Ash: fourteen-year-old dyke with insomnia and is 75% of the time creepily genki/hyper, despite the fact that she has post-trauma stress. Owns herself and her X manga (with that comment, she hoards them). Completely insane and psychotic. People over at Disney: various ages, various sexualities. Own TLK. Completely insane and psychotic.  
  
...Did she prove her point?  
  
She also promises no more long A/N's in later chapters. She just wanted to put in all the warnings and such in the first chapter so people would know what to expect.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
He was sitting in his room... again. Sighing, he looked over at the small, chubby woman standing on the other side of the room. "Ma, why do we have to stay here? The world's enormous, so why do we have to stay cooped up in our apartment all the time when we aren't workin'?"  
  
Ma gave her son a sympathetic look. She knew that her son was a little... out there, a little different, and, lord knows, he wanted a little freedom. Being a young adult and living in your Ma's apartment isn't exactly what most eighteen year olds would find fun. However, she didn't feel ready to let go of him yet...  
  
No. Not yet. She could tell that he was thinking about it. Walking over to him, she said carefully, "There are dangerous people out there." Out of habit, she started smoothing her son's unruly reddish-brown hair. "And I've... I've noticed you have... tendencies, Timon. Some people just don't like people like you."  
  
Timon shooed away his mother's hands and looked at her in the eye. "Ma, I *know* there are people that don't like people like me. I *know* that there are creepy people that come out and abduct you. I *know* there are gangs crawling all around. I'm not a kid anymore! I wanna be free. Wouldn't it be nice to just wander around for a while and not have to sit in your apartment, paranoid? I don't think this is the place for me anymore, Ma."  
  
She blinked. He had hinted at wanting to go outside into the world before, but he hadn't been this frank before. "Timon... I'm really not sure that you're ready for this yet..."  
  
"Of course I'm ready! I know what's out there, and I'm ready to handle it. I know that some people will like me, and some people will think I'm an idiot. You've told me over and over again, Ma. It's not like I need it anymore. Jeez, I'm 18." He stood up and walked towards the door. "I've been thinkin'... I wanna move out. I don't wanna hurt your feelin's, but people around here hate me. They all... you know, *know*, and they hate me for it." He smiled weakly. "Maybe I can even go to Hawaii. It's okay there."  
  
Ma stiffened. She didn't like admitting it to herself, but it was true. It became obvious during his sophomore year at high school, when he started dating. When he found a girl he remotely liked and she thought it was all right to be his girlfriend, they did next to nothing. For Timon, it seemed that just having somebody that you could *talk* to was enough. One day, he chose the wrong type of girlfriend, the type of girlfriend that he thought was okay, but in reality was the type that made Ma shudder. Timon couldn't tell, and he paid for it later. In a moment of weakness, he told her.  
  
It was news all around the small town no more than three days later. Everybody knew about it, and some parents went up to Ma and told her to her face to have her son away from their children. She remembered the first time that it happened.  
  
She was in the grocery store. A woman came up to her while she was picking out some strawberries. "Ms. Berkowitz," she said calmly, "you are Ms. Berkowitz, aren't you?"  
  
Ma looked confused. "Yes, I'm Ms. Berkowitz. What is it?"  
  
The woman looked at her in the eye and gave her a sympathetic look. "Your... your son..." For a second, she seemed at a loss for words. Slowly, she thought and pieced out what exactly she wanted to say. "Be careful. Some people are angry in this town, so I advise you and your son are very careful." She lowered her voice slightly. "You know. Some people aren't ready for this type of thing. Some don't even hear it on the news, but I kinda have a problem with this sorta thing. It's not like I don't *like* them, it's just... the idea of it..." She paused.  
  
"What?" Ma stared uncertainly, not exactly sure what was going on. "What are you talking about?"  
  
The woman blinked. "You mean... you don't know?" When Ma nodded, she cringed. "Hate to tell you this, but your son's gay."  
  
That almost caused Ma's head to explode. For a moment, she stood, immobilized by those words. Thousands of thoughts ran through her head at once, some of the most prominent ones being "Timon? Is she kidding?" and "Grandchildren? What about grandchildren? Goodbye, grandchildren!" When she gained some control over her thoughts, she turned to the woman. "How do you know my son is gay? That could have been anybody! I want *proof*!" She, in honesty, wanted to slap the woman across the face for making such an accusation, but she couldn't find it in her.  
  
The woman just looked sadly at her and walked away.  
  
Ma stared blankly after her. She opened her mouth to yell at her, but then shut it again. It would be better not to cause a stir in a public place. However... if she saw her again...  
  
A light smirk crossed her face.  
  
Timon was home when she went back. He was sitting lazily on the couch, drumming his fingers against the arm. He seemed deep in thought, which was an amazing sight to behold. The times when he did such a thing were far and few. Seeing his mom come in, however, he sat up.  
  
He blinked. "Ma? Why do you look so ticked off?"  
  
She shifted uneasily as she put down her bags. "Oh, it's... nothing..."  
  
The next few minutes were silent.  
  
After the silence, Timon asked uncomfortably, "Ma, what's wrong? What are you thinkin' about?"  
  
She couldn't take it any longer, either. Rushed, stuttering a little, she said, "Timmy, dear... do you like boys?"  
  
Timon blinked.  
  
The next hour or so was very stressful for both of them. They tended to shy away from topics of girlfriends ever since an incident in seventh grade, but they finally got somewhere.  
  
"...so... you did like this one guy for a while."  
  
"...Yeah. It wouldn't have worked out, though. He was... um... not my type in the end." Timon tried to make that sound like the whole truth. He tried to make it the whole truth, and he was starting to believe it himself.  
  
His mother smiled at him weakly. "Well, follow your heart, Timmy. Do whatever you think is right, and I'll support you." She started playing with his hair, and Timon sighed. He wasn't even completely sure why, but something inside him smiled.  
  
She jerked herself back to reality. Timon had already stood up and was exiting the door.  
  
"Timmy, don't leave yet!" she yelled, half-running over to her son.  
  
He turned around. "Ma, I gotta leave. This isn't the place for me anymore." He started walking away.  
  
She stood there for a minute, and then started yelling down the hall. "Remember to comb your hair!"  
  
"Yeah, Ma."  
  
"...Don't forget to brush your teeth!"  
  
"Got it."  
  
"...Wear protection!"  
  
Timon stopped in his tracks, blinking. "Ma, I'm not that stupid!" He continued walking.  
  
She stood there, and watched Timon leave. "...Goodbye," she whispered. She hoped he didn't do anything stupid.  
  
*~*  
  
Timon walked through the town. Nobody was up; it was late at night. For the first time in a while, he felt truly alone. "Damnit..." he muttered, wiping away a few stray tears on his face. "Why do I have to be so STUPID?" He continued walking, increasingly faster. He tripped, possibly on purpose, and landed face down in a puddle.  
  
"Great, just great," he said sarcastically, and he hit the puddle with his fist.  
  
He realized what he did, then. Blankly, he stared at it. The surface of the puddle wasn't perfect anymore. It took a long time, but it slowly got to normal. He saw, in the moonlight, his reflection.  
  
For a time, he was silent.  
  
"I'm not you, anymore," he said slowly, and got up and stepped through the puddle. "You are definitely not me anymore. We aren't the same person." He smiled bitterly, and went on.  
  
"I'm off to find a place for me," he said to the moon. "And that part of me isn't coming with me."  
  
*~*  
  
Timon woke up on the sidewalk. He wasn't in his little town anymore. It was somewhere...else. He had no idea where he was.  
  
He heard somebody in the tall grass.  
  
He jumped and stood up. "Hey, bud, I don't know about you, but I don't think I see any faggots around here," he said out of instinct, and he started breathing quickly.  
  
The grass started swaying slightly, and the wind wasn't blowing.  
  
"Well...um...bud? You aren't gonna attack me, right? I heard that us fags are pretty tough... ehehehe..."  
  
He walked over sheepishly to the weeds, and saw a pair of huge brown eyes.  
  
They both screamed at the top of their lungs.  
  
"Oh, please, please don't kill me!" Timon screamed, falling over backwards and landing on his rear.  
  
The other person stopped screaming. "Hey, man, there's no problem. I won't hurt nobody." A boy, looking slightly younger than Timon, came out of the grass and stretched. "You gave me the chills. Nice wake up call." He smiled good-naturedly.  
  
Timon gave this boy a look. What was he up to?  
  
*~*  
  
A/N: ...I'm a sad person, I know. I've been working on this chapter for a long time, and it sucks. I promise, it *will* get better, and it *will* be longer and I'll get chapters done quicker. I need to finish at least three one-shots before I get the next chapter done, though. Gomen- nasaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiii... 


End file.
